Florida Truck Driver Charged With Crashing Rig While Smoking Meth

By Mark Solomon of FreightWaves

This isn’t a happy Memorial Day weekend for Florida truck driver Michael Calvo.

The Cape Coral driver admitted to having smoked meth before he crashed into the back of a Publix shopping center Thursday afternoon in Haines City near Lakeland, according to reports that cited the Haines City Police Department.

According to police, Calvo, 51, was making a delivery in the back of the shopping center when his truck tore an awning off the building and hit an unoccupied pickup truck, pushing it for about 200 feet. Both vehicles were totaled, reports said.

After the wreck, an officer reportedly approached Calvo and asked if he needed medical assistance. Calvo told him that he thought he was being “pranked” by a television show and resisted exiting the tractor, reports said, citing police information. 

After a few minutes, the officer was able to remove Calvo from the truck and asked him what caused his truck to crash, whether he had fallen asleep, been drinking or was experiencing a medical emergency, according to published reports.

“I was smoking my meth pipe,” Calvo said, according to police information cited in the reports.

Calvo was arrested and faces charges of possession of methamphetamine, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest without violence and possession of narcotics paraphernalia, according to reports.